W5 - pt 1 - language development Flashcards
At around what age do children produce their first recognizable word?
~12 months
By ~15 months, how large is a child’s typical vocabulary?
~25 words or word fragments
Around what age does a child’s vocabulary reach approximately 300 words?
~2 years
What is the typical vocabulary range for a 5-year-old experiencing a “vocabulary spurt”?
10,000–15,000 words
What is the estimated vocabulary size of an 18-year-old?
60,000 words
What term is used to describe a child’s rapid vocabulary increase around age 5?
Vocabulary spurt or naming explosion
In Stage 1: Babbling (4-9 months), how are the sounds produced?
Repetitive and meaningless (e.g., ‘bababa’)
During babbling, what happens to infants’ ability to distinguish sounds?
They become more attuned to native language sounds over time
What is the characteristic feature of the One-Word or Holophrastic Stage?
Single words represent entire thoughts (e.g., ‘mama’ for ‘I want mama’)
What types of words do infants commonly produce first?
Concrete nouns (objects they can see and interact with)
What is ‘Final Consonant Deletion’ in early speech development?
Dropping the final consonant in words (e.g., ‘dog’ becomes ‘do’)
What phonological process changes ‘stop’ to ‘top’?
Consonant Cluster Reduction
Which stage marks the beginning of simple syntax in toddlers’ speech?
Stage 3: Two-Word Stage (18-24 months)
How do two-word combinations like ‘daddy sleep’ signify language development?
They show emerging syntax, indicating understanding of relationships
What is omitted in ‘telegraphic speech’?
Function words like ‘the,’ ‘is,’ and ‘on’
What type of sentence structure is common in Stage 4: Telegraphic Speech?
Brief three-word sentences, primarily nouns, verbs, and adjectives
At what stage can fetuses begin perceiving sounds in the womb?
Prenatal stage
What did DeCasper & Spence’s 1986 study on prenatal sound perception reveal?
Newborns recognize familiar prosody from stories heard prenatally
How does the Non-Nutritive Sucking Method measure infant speech perception?
By observing sucking rate changes in response to new sounds
What is ‘categorical perception’ in infants?
Ability to detect sound differences, like between ‘ba’ and ‘pa’
Before ~1 year, how do infants respond to sounds from different languages?
They can distinguish sounds universally, but this fades with age
What is significant about infants’ first vocalizations like crying and cooing?
They are universal, emotion-driven, and not language-specific
What does ‘manual babbling’ in deaf infants show?
Deaf infants babble with their hands
Which sounds are often produced first during babbling?
Front-of-mouth sounds like /p/, /m/, /d/
At what age do children often experience a ‘word explosion’?
~18 months
What is the phenomenon called where children learn words after minimal exposure?
Fast Mapping
What kind of word error involves applying ‘doggie’ to all four-legged animals?
Overextension
What type of word error occurs when a child only calls roses ‘flowers’?
Underextension
What is the ‘Whole Object Assumption’ in early language acquisition?
Children assume words label whole objects rather than parts
What bias do children develop around age 2 that aids vocabulary growth?
Shape Bias
Which assumption suggests each object has only one label?
Mutual Exclusivity Assumption
According to Gentner’s research, what word type is easier for children to learn?
Nouns (Noun-Category Bias)
What is the main idea behind Behaviorist language acquisition theories?
Language is learned through imitation and reinforcement
What did Brown & Hanlon (1970) conclude about grammar correction in language learning?
Adults respond more to content than grammar in child speech
According to Nativist theories, how do children acquire grammar universally?
Through an innate Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
What does Vygotsky’s Social Interactionist theory highlight?
The role of interaction with caregivers in language learning
What is Piaget’s view on the connection between language and cognitive development?
Language is tied to the development of cognitive structures
How do children from cultures without Child-Directed Speech (CDS) learn language?
They still acquire language through observation and context
What characteristic of CDS (Motherese) makes it engaging for infants?
Higher pitch, slower pace, exaggerated intonation
Which language learning theory stresses a ‘tabula rasa’ (blank slate) model?
Behaviorist Accounts (e.g., Skinner)
